The Truth
by BorntoFlyFree
Summary: The story follows Periwinkle, a spirited frost fairy as she discovers the truth about the the Lord of Winter and the Queen of Pixie Hollow. She discovers that being a winter fairy is more difficult than it appears, and meets a twin sister she never knew she had. Everyone knows that Tinkerbell is a handful- but two tinkerbells? This is just asking for trouble!
1. Chapter 1

**HI! I was watching Secret of the Wings earlier and I had a great idea for a story! So I hope everyone enjoys :) This is chapter 1 and I will post more as soon as I can :) Life is a little hetic right now... so... Lol :)**

**DISCLAIMER: I obviously do not own Tinkerbell or any of the charectors (except for OCs if I stick them in there)**

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><p>A baby's laugh is a magical thing.<p>

For with it, fairies are carried into spring.

But there is more magic at work within.

For spring is not the only place fairies have been.

The first thing the young girl felt was cold. Biting at her skin and freezing her blood. Curling over, she breathed on her hands, shivering. Someone knelt next to her and something yellow fell on her head. All of a sudden, she was no longer cold.

Looking up, she stared into the kind face of a young looking white-haired man. "Don't be afraid." He whispered. "You are safe."

Glancing up at the beautiful spakling stars above her and the piles of soft snow under her feet and the gleaming waterfall of golden dust off to the side, she gasped, "Where… Where am I? And who are you?"

Taking her tiny hand in his own large one, he pulled her to her feet. "I am Lord Milori. And you are in winter."

For the first time, Periwinkle noticed the many fairies around her and stumps in a half circle around her, each with a different symbol resting on top. Yelping in surprise, she turned to see that the Lord of Winter had done something to her back, so that now she had long, thin wings stretching out behind her.

"What's going on?" She breathed in awe.

Chuckling, Lord Milori motioned towards the stumps. "Go, find your talent small one."

Grinning ear-to-ear, she walked in a circle, looking at the different symbols. Two symbols, one of a snowflake and another of a baby rabbit, exploded into a flurry of tiny flakes before she could touch them. Glancing around she felt a slight pull to the image of a frosted branch. The instant she touched it, it glowed so brightly it almost blinded her.

When the light faded, Lord Milori walked up to her, grinning. "Everyone welcome the newest Frost Fairy." Turning to the young fairy, he brushed a strand of white hair out of his eyes. "Your name my dear, shall be Periwinkle. Welcome Periwinkle, welcome to Pixie Hollow.

Turning to face the gathered fairies, Lord Milori motioned two forward. "Gliss, Spike, come show your knew comrade to the Frost Forests."

One bubbly, jumpy fairy and another calm distant fairy stepped forward.

"Oh! My name's Gliss, I'm so excited! We're going to be best friends!" She squealed.

"Yeah, like, welcome. I guess." Spike waved her hand half-heartedly.

Rolling her eyes at the black haired fairy, Gliss pulled Periwinkle forward. "Come on, we'll show you to your home!"

Glancing back, Periwinkle saw all of the fairies spread their wings and fly away. All except Lord Milori. With a piercing whistle, he called down a brilliant snowy owl and climbed onto its back. Grabbing the reins on the bird, he kicked it into the air and flew off into the night sky,

Frowning, Periwinkle asked, "Why does Lord Milori fly a bird instead of using his own wings?"

"I don't know." Gliss shrugged, perplexed. "I never thought to ask that before."

Watching the white bird disappear into the sky, Periwinkle's thoughts crowded inside her head. _But I'm still so curious. And why do I feel like I'm missing something? Like I left half of myself behind?_


	2. Chapter 2

Lord Milori stared off over the North Mountain, silently watching all the fairies as they flew to their homes. Slipping into a cave at the very top of the mountain, he sighed.

"Welcome home." He whispered to himself.

The cave was mostly empty with only a single chair, a bed pushed into the corner, and a nightstand with only a few books and a small framed picture. Picking up the picture, he smiled as he traced the faces on it. Two smiling faces, one a much younger version of him. The other, a beautiful woman in a golden dress. _I remember the day this was painted._ He thought to himself.

Unclipping his owl feather cape, he tossed it over the chair and lay on his side on the bed. Moving his hand to his back, he touched the jagged edges of his broken wing.

_Oh how I wish I could go back in time._ His thoughts whispered as he drifted into a restless sleep.

**FLASHBACK:**

It was a normal day in the winter woods. Milori walked near the border, watching the warm fairies fly to and fro over in their side. Crossing the border was allowed, but few were brave enough to do it. They knew the dangers.

The snapping of a stick made him spin around. Drawing an ice dagger out of his belt, he pointed it towards the noise. Surprise glinted in his blue eyes as he saw what had made the noise. It was a young, pretty fairy. Her auburn hair was in a single braid down her back and she had beautiful golden butterfly wings.

He recognized her instantly, no other fairy had wings like that. Dropping his dagger, he fell to one knee. "Your majesty! Forgive me, I did not know it was you. What are you doing in winter?"

Her cheeks were red from cold and she shivered. "Forgive me, but I seem to have lost my way. Could you show me the way back to spring?"

Seeing the blue tint in her wings, Milori leapt up, heart filled with fear. Without thinking, he grabbed her hand and raced through the woods, pulling her with him. Their fingers were entwined as he pulled her through the woods.

Making it to the border, he pushed her into spring and fell to his knees in winter, panting. Looking up at each other from either side, he gasped, "Forgive me your majesty. But do you have any idea how close you got to breaking a wing?"

Rubbing the freezing tips of her wings, she nodded. "I know, thank you for saving me. Who are you?"

Changing position so that he was sitting cross-legged, he grinned. "My name's Milori. I am the Lord of Winter. What were you doing in winter anyhow? That was rather foolish, you could have frozen to death." As an afterthought, he added, "Your Majesty."

Still rubbing her wings, she answered with a bell-like laugh in her voice. "I saw a rabbit whose foot was trapped under a small log. I ran to it and managed to free it. But by that time, snow had started to fall, and I could not tell how to get back to spring."

"Good thing we ran into each other then! Winter is a dangerous place for a warm fairy."

"So is Spring, for a cold one." Queen Clarion laughed and Milory held his hand to the border.

Grinning back, she pressed her hand to his. Neither crossed the border.

"Can we be friends?" The young queen asked quietly. "I like you. You speak your mind around me. No one else does that- the ministers just agree with whatever I say whether they agree or not. It gets tiring."

"I wouldn't like that." Milory frowned. "Opinion should always be voiced. And I would really like to be your friend. Being the Lord of Winter is lonely, everyone looks up to me and expects me to know what to do- I have no one I can truly talk to. Except perhaps Dewy."

"Who's Dewy?" The queen asked curiously.

"You know him as the Watcher. He knows everything- literally."

"What an amazing talent!"

"It is."

They stayed that way for a couple minutes, hands pressed together before a voice yelled over in spring.

"Oh dear!" Queen Clarion jumped up, "The ministers are calling for me."

"Wait!" At Milori's cry, Clarion turned around. "Meet me here tomorrow?" He begged.

With a happy look, the Queen nodded. "Tomorrow, when the last rays of light touch the river." With that, she spread her wings and disappeared into the flowering trees.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, it took Milori a long time to wake up. The dream wrapped around him like a blanket, making him not want to re-enter the world of the living.

A loud knocking on the door finally woke him. Jumping to his feet, he over balanced himself and fell to the floor.

With a slow CREAK, the door cracked open and Dewey pooped his head in. "Lord Milori," He asked. "You alright? I heard something fall?"

"I'm alright Dewey," Milori gasped, struggling to find his feet. "Please, come in."

Frowning, Dewey slipped inside and inspected the Lord of Winter. Without warning, he took a single step forward and pressed a hand to Milori's broken wing.

Yelping, he jumped away, "Why would you do that?" Milori growled, gripping his shoulder.

"Milori," Dewey shook his head sadly. "It's doing it again. Fairies… thy can't survive without their wings. The muscles in your back and working terribly hard to try and make you fly- it's overheating you. Eventually, you will burn yourself out."

"I know." Walking to the bed, Milori sat down and dropped his head into his hands. "I know I don't have much longer." He sighed. "I managed to fight the pull, it's been a good long run. A hundred and fifty years without wings. None have ever survived that long without flying- but it's been getting worse and worse. I will be lucky if I live three more years."

Handing the Lord of Winter his bird feather cape, Dewey sighed. "You should tell her."

"No." He shook his head vehemently. "We swore never to see each other again- to keep our people safe. Plus, I doubt she cares about me anymore. It's been a hundred and fifty years. She has found someone else by now."

Inspecting his staff, Dewey shrugged. "We don't hear much over the border. But from what I have heard, I don't think she has."

"Well," Milori clasped the cloak around his shoulders and limped towards the door. "It's too late for me now anyhow.

"Wake up Periwinkle!" Gliss shook her awake. "Come on, we want to show you the rest of the Frost Forest!"

Sitting up from her pile of owl feathers in the back of a small cave (her new home) Periwinkle grinned. "Ready in a second!" Pulling on her blue dress, Periwinkle ran out, almost bumping into Spike.

"Like, watch it." Spike gave her a funny look.

"Sorry, come on!" Spreading her wings, Periwinkle followed Gliss and Spike down the mountain and into the frozen forest beyond.

"It's so beautiful!" Peri gasped.

"Yeah, try this!" Leaping into the air, Gliss surfed down a fern leaf, leaving trails of blue frost behind."

"Whoa! It has its own design!" Peri's eyes grew wide with wonder as she poked as the half frozen leaf.

"Yeah, every one of us Frost Fairies has a different design in their frosts." Spike spoke in a no-duh kind of voice.

The three fairies stayed there for an hour before Peri began to get bored. As she watched her two new friends frost leaves and tree trunks, a bright light caught her attention.

_What's that?_ She thought to herself. Glancing over her shoulder, she made sure that Gliss and Spike were occupied before she slipped through the woods towards the light. Her wings stirred a slight wind which pushed snow off of branches.

Skidding to a halt, she looked in awe at what was before her. In a perfect line, the snow just stopped. And on the other side, was the most beautiful things she had ever seen. Big beautiful flowers and trees…. Which were green!

Stepping forward, she reached out a hand and touched the other side. "Ouch!" She exclaimed. "It's hot."

"Peri, stop!" Gliss's cry came seconds before she grabbed Pari and shoved her back into winter.

"What? Gliss, why are you so upset?" Peri gaped at the bubbly fairy, who was now almost crying.

"Don't know know?" Spike leaned over and helped Peri stand. "Those are the warm seasons. We can't cross, it's against the law. Warm fairies stay in warm, cold fairies stay in Winter."

"But… Why?"

"If we cross the border, we can break a wing." Spike explained, looking at the bright colors in Spring with disgust.

"How?"

"Our wings can't handle the heat. There is no cure for a broken wing."

"Yes!" Gliss bawled. "And if your wing breaks, you end up dying!"

"How do you know?" Peri frowned.

"The Keeper." They whispered together. "He knows everything."

"Everything?"

Grabbing her hands, Gliss and Spike pulled Peri into the air calling, "Follow us."

A couple minutes later, they landed in front of a magnificent ice home. Slipping through the door, spike called, "Keeper! You here?"

Peri smiled at all the wondrous things in the building. Giant books, piled seven deep and half frozen covered the floor.

"Yah, I'm a'coming," A voice called and a short, chubby man with wild white hair and a curling mustache popped out from behind the books. He carried a large staff in one hand and a quill pen in his other. "Watcha need girls?" He asked.

"Peri here," Spike shoved Peri forward. "What's you to explain what happens when a fairy breaks a wing."

"Huh?" Peri's eyes were wide and Dewey smiled sadly.

"Breaking a wing is duh worst thing a fairy can do. There is no cure for a broken wing." He explained. "Fairies need to fly in order to survive, it helps us breath, helps our organs to keep working, and regulates everything. If a fairy breaks a wing, they are unlikely to live for more than twenty years. Although- there are… certain fairies who will survive off of shear determination."

"You've lived a loooooong time Dewey." Gliss paused, "Did you ever meet a fairy who broke a wing."

Nodding, Dewey traced the pattern of his staff. "Yes. I knew of two. One died very soon after it happened. And one-" Pausing as if trying to answer very carefully, Dewy shrugged. "One survived longer. But," He waved one finger at them. "That is why the border law is there. To keep us safe. No fairy has broken a wing since it has been in place. Now none of you are thinking of doing anything stupid are you?" He frowned.

"No Dewey, we would never think of crossing!" Grinning, Gliss pushed her two friends out the door. Thanks!"

Once they were outside, Peri asked, "Dewey?"

Nodding, Gliss bounced on the balls of her feet. "It's what his friends call him.

After the girls left, Dewey sighed and picked up a book he had been writing. "This book may never be finished." He whispered. "For I do not want to write a story which ends in tragedy."

Opening the leather bound tome, he traced a picture he had drawn of two fairies, one male one female, holding hands across the border between Winter and Spring. Turning the page, he stared at the next picture. This one of the fairies kneeling side by side, the male was gripping his shoulder in pain. Half of his left wing was torn nearly off, holding on by barely a thread.

"I wish to finish this someday." Dewey murmured. "I will call this book The Truth. For this is a forbidden story. I story of love between two people who can never enter the other's world.


	4. Chapter 4

As the sun set, it sent a rosy glow reflecting over the half-flowing river. It was only flowing in half of it, because on the winter side of the river, it was frozen.

Panting, Clarion and Milori ran up at the exact same tight and yelled at the other in unison, "I'm so sorry I'm late!"

Staring at each other, they burst into laughter. The two fairies had been meeting at the border every day for almost a year. They would sit and hold hands, each on their own side and they would talk for hours.

Sitting crosslegged, knee to knee, they talked and laughed over trivial things for a while before finally falling silent, comfortable to just sit in each other's company.

All of a sudden, a shrill scream from Summer made Clarion leap to her feet. "What on earth?!' She yelled as a flurry of animals came stampeding through spring. Fairies screamed as the animal fairies hurried to calm the animals, to no avail.

"Be careful!" Milori yelled as Clarion to took to the air, rushing to stop the stampede.

The young Lord of Winter stared in horror as he watched the animal fairies struggle to control the stampede. Clarion yelped as a badger swatted her to the ground. Freezing in place, filled with fear, she closed her eyes, waiting for the huge animal to step on her and crush her.

But the blow never came.

Opening her eyes, she saw Milori standing in front of her, hands outstretched. The badger was running away, yelping from the frostbite on the tip of its nose. Eyes glowing with untapped power, Milori spun around, freezing the ground so that the animals slipped and fell, allowing the animal fairies to round them up.

"How did you do that?" Clarion gasped.

Face flushing from the heat, he swiped a hand across his brow. "I am the most powerful of all Winter fairies." He shrugged. "Like how you have all warm talents, I have all cold ones." Eyes rolling back in his head, he collapsed to the ground.

"Get him back to Winter!" Clarion screamed at two fairies. Picking him up under the arms, the fairies pushed Milori over the border, the queen ran across with him and pulled him farther over the border.

"Your Majesty," Fairy Mary, a tinker and Clarion's best friend tossed a blanket over the border. "Cover your wings."

"Thank you." Clarion nodded and did as she was told before taking Milori's hand.

Blinking, he opened his eyes and frowned at her. "Where are we?" He asked.

"In winter." Leaping to his feet, he almost fell over and she grabbed his shoulders to steady him. "Don't do that!" She exclaimed. "You got overheated, rest for a moment."

"Get out of Winter!" He exclaimed. "You could break a wing."

"I'm fine." She crossed her arms, pulling the blanket tighter around her wings. "The question is, are you?"

Turning around, he slowly spread his wings and fluttered them slightly. "I'm fine." He exclaimed in amazement.

But you almost weren't." Clarion whispered. "You could have been hurt."

Grabbing her around the waist, he picked her up and flew in a circle, laughing. "Maybe… Maybe we could find a way to cross the border, so I we can see each other's world." He exclaimed joyfully.

"Milori," She tried to speak logically and ignore her own excitement. "You weren't able to last in spring for even five minutes."

"That was because I was using my powers- which was warming me. If I didn't have to use them though, I should be able to last for at least half an hour!"

Biting her lip, not wanting to give in, Clarion argued, "But why? Why do you want to see the warm seasons anyhow?"

Blushing bright red, he stuttered. "Be… be… Because, um." He set her down in spring and turned away, his pale face flaming.

Reaching into Winter, she touched his cheek lightly, turning him so that he was looking at her. "Because, because I love you." He finished, embarrassed, he ducked away.

Eyes wide, Clarion grabbed his wrist and pulled him close to her, so that he was almost touching the border. "Well that's convenient." She whispered. "Because I love you too." In front of everyone, she stood on her tip toes and kissed him.

Startled, he didn't respond for a couple seconds. Sighing against her mouth, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back.

When they broke apart, all the other fairies broke into cheers. No one had even known that the queen had been seeing someone- they had kept it so secret.

"I love you." She grinned, holding his hands lightly. "We will find a way to cross the border."

Staring down at the words on the book's page, Dewey whispered them aloud. "They tried what no fairy ever dared. To cross the curtain of snow and enter a forbidden world. To ignore the danger and everything else for love. They thought their love would last forever. However, it was not to be.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi guys! Sorry it took so long to upload this. I have been in the process of getting my first book published for a couple months now, and just recently I had to go through the final technical aspect (I hate technology! haha) So, guess what? AS OF TODAY I AM AN OFFICIAL PUBLISHED AUTHOR! AAAAAAHHHHH ^_^ My book's name is ****Child of Fire**** :) Since it's just been published today, it won't be on amazon for probably another 3 days (give or take) The cover image is the new picture for this fanfic :)**

** :) I'm sooo excited! It took me... Over three years to finish it :)**

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><p>Leaping to her feet, Periwinkle stretched her arms out wide and yawned, "It's a beautiful day for frosting leaves and trees!" She laughed as she got dressed, sticking two small balls of cotton on the tips of her shoes. Dusting her hands off on her icicle-blue dress and spreading her wings, she shot out of her cave and towards the frost forest.<p>

Once there, she landed ungracefully, falling on her butt.

"Careful." Gliss winked as she reached up and traced long, elegant strands of frost onto a tree, "Snow is slippery."

"I know." Periwinkle giggled. Pausing for a second, she placed a hand on the back of her wite hair and tilted her head up, string into the laden clouds far above. "Hey Gliss," She asked questioningly.

"Hm?" Gliss asked, not really paying much attention as she moved both hands over the same tree trunk, artistically painting with her slightly blue-tinged fingers.

"Why do we spend all day frosting for anyhow? I love doing it… But what's the point?"

"Didn't anyone tell you?" Peri jumped when Spike's voice sounded from behind her.

Turning around, Periwinkle shook her head. "No. Can you tell me?"

Rolling her eyes, Spike sighed dramatically. "For the mainland."

"The mainland?"

"Yeah," Gliss bounced up and down excitedly,temporarily forgetting about the tree with her half-painted design over the bark. "Second star to the right. Follow it through and you come to a whole different world full of crazy giant people! We go there to turn the seasons. We got back from the mainland only a day before you showed up. It's spring there right now. The warm fairies will be in the mainland for the next three seasons, then we will go and bring glorious frost!" Shrieking shrilly, Gliss ran in a circle, frosting everything in sight.

"Wow she's hyper." Peri grinned.

Nodding, Spike grabbed Gliss's arm. "Come on Gliss." Almost as an after thought, she added, "You too Peri. We are all going ice sliding- maybe that will get rid of some of Gliss's… Energy."

"What's ice sliding?" Peri cocked one eyebrow at the dark haired frost fairy.

At Peri's question, Gliss gasped and grabbed her arm. "Oh you poor fairy! Come on right now! You haven't lived until you've gone ice sliding!"

Racing up to a steep slope, wings beating quickly, the three fairies landed at the top. "Whoa." Periwinkle panted, looking out at the rolling snowy hills stretching out far below them. "That is one beautiful view."

Pointing to where two small sleds made of bark rested against a lone tree, Gliss laughed. "Never mind the view! Now, we are going to slide down."

Face falling slack, Peri gasped, "What?!"

"Come on," Spike rolled her eyes. "You can ride with me. My sled is WAY faster than Gliss's."

"Is not!" The perky fairy pouted.

Rolling her eyes, Peri grinned. "Let's just settle it on the sleds. First one down wins?"

"You got it!" Gliss laughed.

Climbing into Spike's sled, Peri asked, "So, how does it work?"

"Just watch." Finally cracking a smile, Spike yelled, "Go!" Both sleds shot down the slope going so fast that the entire world became a blur in Peri's eyes. Raising her arms above her head, she shouted with glee, the wind whipping the words away before she even had time to utter them.

Coming to a halt at the bottom of the hill, Peri leapt out- slightly dizzy. "That was awesome!" She screamed. "Let's go again!"

Nodding, the other two fairies grabbed the ropes on their sleds and pulled them back to the top. They went down the slope three more times before Peri finally had (what she considered) a brilliant idea.

Pointing to the North Mountain, she grinned. "Hey guys, why don't we go up there? We can sled all the way down the slope."

"That sounds like a really bad idea." Spike rolled her eyes.

Shivering dramatically, Gliss hugged herself. "Yea, what if we go of a cliff?"

Turning around, Peri waved her wings in Gliss's face. "Hellllllloooooo."

"Oh, right." Grinning, Gliss bounced up and down. "Let's go!"

She and Peri raced off but Spike simply crossed her arms. "I'm not going." Glancing at her friends retreating forms, she threw up her hands in exasperation. "Well, wait for me guys!"

At the top of the mountain, Gliss, Spike, and Periwinkle all crowded into Gliss's sled. Giggling, the bubby fairy cried, "On your mark, get set, go!" Screaming at the top of their lungs, the girls sped down the hill. As one, they leaned left or right to turn the sled and avoid gorges or rock boulders stretching up in the treacherous mountain slope.

Deep snow covered the whole mountain face, covering everything nd mixing colors into one big white blur. So it was that the girls did no notice a deep, wide crack in the mountain side until they had already gone over it. Shrieking, they froze as the sled shot off the ledge into space.

Leaping off the sled at the last minute, Peri watched it slam into the side of the mountain. Hovering in the air with Gliss and Spike, the three girls watched in horror as everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

A loud cracking noise filled the air as sheets of snow broke off of the mountain and tumbled straight towards them.

Turning around, the fairies flew as fast as they could- trying desperately to outfly the avalanche. They were caught in between the rock walls of a valley. Billowing snow above them and the icy ground beneath them. Nowhere to go. They were trapped.

Lord Milory glanced up as a loud rumbling shook the ground. New baby foxes he had been inspecting panicked and raced off. Fairies raced off after the baby animals, trying desperately to catch them. But Milory's sensitive eyes picked up something the others could yet see. Far in the distance, beyond the North mountain, a storm of white snow was filling the sky. Gasping Milory jumped to his feet, only one thing could make a cloud of snow of that size. An avalanche.

Whistling for his pet snowy owl, who ironically was named Avalanche, Milory vaulted onto his back and took off into the sky.

As they flew over the avalanche, Milory saw something that took his breath away. It was the new fairy, Periwinkle, and his two best frosters, Gliss and Spike. They were trapped in between the walls of one of the crevasses which dotted the mountain face. Hungry snow chased them from above, and the three fairies were swiftly running out of room- the crevasse was coming to an end.

Leaping off of Avalanche's back, Milory landed on the floor of the crevasse. At that exact moment, the three fairies were forced to land next him.

"Lord Milory!" Periwinkle yelped. "What are you doing here?"

"Get back." He commanded. Lifting his hands, he summoned all his power and concentrated. Crashing down, the snow seeked to consume them- but was stopped. An invisible force held it back as Milory summoned all of his power over snow and ice to prevent the avalanche from crashing down.

"Fly." He gasped, swiftly draining of energy. "Get out of here."

Nodding, the three fairies did as they were told. Once they were above the avalanche, Periwinkle looked down and saw Milory still down there, holding back the snow. "Why doesn't he fly up?" She wrung her hands.

"I don't know!" Gliss's face was streaked with worry. Groaning with effort, Lord Milory's knees buckled and he fell to the ground, completely drained. With a shudder, the avalanche finished crashing down, covering the mountain face in thousands of pounds of snow.


	6. Chapter 6

Milori woke up in Dewey's library. "Where am I?" He groaned, sitting up.

"Be careful." Dewy shook his head, sitting next to the ruler of Winter. "Your bird managed to grab you before the avalanche crashed down on you. He brought you back here. You are lucky to be alive. The sheer amount of power you had to use should have completely drained you."

"It did." Milori held out his hand, trying unsuccessfully to summon even a tiny bit of frost.

"Well, almost. If it had drained you of everything, you'd be dead… er."

Frowning, Milori rolled his eyes. "Wow, thanks Dewy. I'm not dead yet, I still have a lot of life in me." Standing up, Milori's knees buckled and he fell to the ground with a groan.

"Hm." Dewy turned away, rifling through a book.

Glaring at his friend, Milori growled, "Not. A. Word."

Shrugging, Dewy attempted to put on an innocent expression. "What? I didn't say'a nothin'." Turning back to his books Dewy grabbed one with a triumphant, "Ha!" Grinning, Dewy held the thick tomb up. "Found it."

"What?" Milori rubbed his temple with one thin hand.

Ignoring him, Dewy flipped the book open, tracing his hand down the page. "Hm, this might help." He muttered and sat next to the Lord of Winter.

"What?" Craning his neck, Milori glanced behind himself as Dewy grabbed the base of his broken wing. Yelping, the lord of Winter leapt away. "What the heck was that for?!"

"Try summoning frost now."

Holding up his hand, Milori gasped when he was able to bring frost onto his palm. "How did you do that?" He asked in excitement.

"I shot some of my power through you. It won't heal you, but it should help your body to start rejuvenating your own magic."

"Thank you Dewey, you are a good friend." Milori tried to stand but immediately, his legs buckled and he fell back down.

"You shouldn't be a'movin' Lord Milori." Dewey frowned. "You are still far too weak, rest here for now."

"I can't Dewey, I must check on the girls, make sure they are alright."

Sighing in annoyance, Dewey made a strange gesture with his hand, dust flew out of his palm hitting the Lord of Winter, who fell unconscious. "One of the benefits of being the Keeper of all knowledge: I know many tricks." Dewey shook his head and lay a blanket over Milori before walking out of the room quietly.

Periwinkle ran into Dewy's library, her face streaked with tears. "Dewy!" She screamed, "Dewy, come quick!"

"What is it?" The old fairy exclaimed as he hurried out from behind a pile of books.

"It's Lord Milori! I think he's dead!"

"What makes yah think that?"

"He stopped an avalanche from killing me, Gliss, and Spike, but it fell on top of him! He's buried." Tears ran down Peri's cheeks and she buried her face in her hands.

"Don't yah worry," Dewey sighed, he's fine. His bird saved him."

"Is he here!" Peri's eyes glinted with hope, "Is he alright?!"

"Well… no, he is very weak. Stopping that avalanche almost killed him."

Bawling, Peri choked out, "It's all my fault!"

"No, it's not! And don't you be a'thinking that!" Taking her hand, Dewey pulled her into a separate room and pointed to where Lord Milori lay fast asleep on the ground. Pei gasped when she saw him. He was much paler than normal and a blanket was thrown around him.

"He's alive." She whispered, being careful not to wake him.

"Yes, he was insisting he go and check on you girls, but I made him rest. No need to be so quiet, he won't be a'waking up any time soon."

"When he was keeping the avalanche from hitting us, he could have flown away but didn't… Why?" Peri looked at the Keeper curiously.

"Now Periwinkle, don't you be a'repeating this," Dewy said carefully, knowing that she deserved some sort of explanation. "the Lord Milori has been very sick for hundreds o'years. By right, he should be dead by now, it's only stubbornness that has kept him alive. It is because of this… sickness… that he flies a bird. It is not your fault that he almost became buried in the snow. It is the fault of the sickness."

"It makes it difficult for him to fly?"

"Erm- in a way."


	7. Chapter 7

As Milori slept, dreams swirled around him, taunting him. Reminding him of all that had once been.

_Stars twinkled in the dark sky as the Lord of Winter and the Queen of Pixie Hollow met on the log between winter and the autumn woods. They had been meeting every evening for three months at the boundary where Spring kissed Winter. But this night was different. This time they met in autumn, the coldest of the warm seasons._

_ "__Are you ready?" Queen Clarion wrung her hands. "This could be dangerous." _

_Reaching over the border to gently touch her hand, Milori nodded. "Autumn is not very warm normally, and at night it cools down more. I should be fine. We won't go far from the border- just in case."_

_ "__Alright," Biting her lip, Clarion squeezed his rough hand in her own soft one._

_Taking a deep breath, Milori closed his eyes and stepped into Autumn. Gazing around himself in wonder, he lifted his wings, flying up to touch the bright red leaves of an arching tree. "It's beautiful," He sighed._

_Flying up beside him, golden wings trailing pixie dust, Queen Clarion nodded. "Let me show you something."_

_Once again taking her hand, Milori let Clarion lead him through the cool night sky. They set down just inside Spring. As soon as Clarion's feet touched the ground, she let out a long, low whistle. Instantly, tiny heads popped up all around them._

_ "__What are they?" Milori asked in awe as they were surrounded by the glowing insects. _

_Giggling, the Queen reached up one hand to touch the bright light shining from the small bug. "They are called fireflies."_

_ "__They are beautiful." Swiping a hand across his brow, Milori drooped slightly. "My Queen, forgive me, but I must return to Winter."_

_Noticing how flushed his pale face had become, Clarion nodded. Taking his hand, she pulled him after her back through the Autumn woods. Stopping at the border, she gently shoved him into the freezing temperatures of his season. _

_Sinking to the ground, he buried his hands into the snow, gradually losing the color he had acquired in Spring._

_ "__That was a bad idea." Clarion frowned. "We should not have done that."_

_Surprise glinted in Milori's eyes as he turned to look at her. "No, not at all!" He exclaimed. "I was over there for almost half an hour and was fine. As long as I am careful to gauge my own temperature, we can surly do that again!"_

_Looking unconvinced, Clarion began, "But-"_

_ "__No," The young Lord of Winter shook his head adamantly and stood to take her hands, holding them tightly in his own. "I saw something beautiful tonight. We have very little color in the Winter woods. No insects or flowers or living plants- only ones frozen solid or deep in hibernation. Even animal coats are devoid of color, they turn white like the snow in Winter. I have never seen anything so beautiful as the things I have seen with you. Please Clarion, can we do it again?"_

_Wavering as she looked up into his hopeful face, she nodded. "Yes, then of course we must if you loved it so. As long as we are careful. And you mustn't cross without me!"_

_When he nodded consent, she continued, "You must really love bright colors. Some of the brightest colors are in summer, but I fear even at night it is too hot for you to go there. So I will bring you some flowers from there so you can at least see them."_

_Kissing her lightly on the lips, Milori grinned. "I love you my Queen. Thank you. I must go."_

_Standing on the tips of her toes to give him a longer kiss, Clarion nodded. "So must I. But I shall meet you tomorrow at the border."_

_ "__Where Spring touches Winter." He finished her sentence. "I shall see there." With that, he disappeared into the dark snowy trees._

_As soon as she told him goodbye and disappeared through the trees in Spring. Milori sat in the branches of a frozen oak, quietly watching the colors of Spring. He was hidden by the frozen leaves, although he could still see clearly. So it was, he saw two male fairies slink up._

_One of the fairies Milori recognized as the Minister of Spring. He conversed in hurried, nervous tones with another fairy. This one looked to be one of the actors, the bards the Warm seasons so loved to listen too, he wore dark clothes and acted with a confident, self-righteous attitude. Any normal fairy would have been unable to hear they them, they spoke so quietly. But Milori was no normal fairy and could pick up their voices with some difficulty._

_ "__Are you sure no one followed you?" The minister of spring asked in hurried tones._

_ "__I'm sure Sir." The bard rolled his eyes._

_ "__You know what to do?"_

_ "__We've been over this a thousand times Sir. I know it by heart."_

_ "__Repeat it to me one more time."_

_ "__I sneak in, poison the queen, then when you- as her most trusted advisor- take over pixie hollow, I shall be your second in command and you will have the power you always wanted.'_

_Sucking in breath, Milori leapt off the branch and streaked off into the dark forest." I have to warn the queen! Was his only thought._

_Hearing a branch rustle, the Minister of Spring nodded at the other fairy. "Good acting." He grinned._

_Smiling wickedly, the other one nodded. "Well, that is my talent after all. How did you know the Lord of Winter would be there?"_

_ "__I've been watching them for weeks. He always stays to watch the sunset."_

_Holding out his hand, the actor fairy made a slight coughing sound._

_Smirking, the Minister of Spring dropped a large bag of pixie dust into his outstretched hand. "Your payment."_

_ "__Many thanks Minister." Bowing, the actor fairy sped off, leaving the Minister of spring to glare into the depths of Winter. _

_**You had no right.** The thought ran through the Minister's head._ **_I love Clarion, she should have been mine! Instead you slimy winter worm came and stole her love from me! Well I will have my revenge. Go little winter fairy. Go and warn the queen about the assassination attempt being planned. Even you know that there is no away you can get to her- all the way across Summer- without breaking a wing. And once you are wingless, the queen will no longer want you. And she shall be mine again! Sad though, you shall do that only to find out that you lost your wings for nothing. There will be no assassination, it is only a play the actor fairies are putting on. So not only will you be crippled, but also humiliated._**

**The dream went forward in time by about 36 hours**

_ Clarion gripped Milori's hand in her own. Confused, he blinked his eyes open slowly. When he saw who it was, he gasped, "Clarion," His eyes grew wide and he struggled to sit up, "You're in danger! I have to tell you-"_

_ "Milori." She interrupted, gentle sitting next to him. "I was never in danger. You overheard the Minister of Spring helping one of the bard fairies rehearse for their play, Macbeth."_

_ Grimacing, he shook his head. "I don't believe it! The Minister of Spring has always had a crush on you, there has to be more to it!"_

_ Refusing to believe something like that about one of her advisers, she sighed. "No Milori. That's all there was to it. It's all my fault." Rubbing her eyes, she began to cry. "If we had never met, you never would have gotten hurt."_

_ "Hurt?" Milori looked at her in confusion, "What do you mean? I just passed out from the heat… Didn't I?"_

_ Sobbing, she helped him sit up and gently moved his hand to the jagged edge of his right wing._

_ "M… my wing!" He gasped, his heart sinking as the realization hit him… He would never fly again._

_ "It's broken." Clarion's voice broke and she struggled to pull herself together._

_ Groaning, Milori sank back down on his bed, too weak to hold himself up. "Who else knows about my wing?" He whispered._

_ "Only me, Dewy, and a single healer."_

_ "We mustn't tell anyone else. My fairies will not respect a crippled ruler… No one must ever find out that this has happened. Promise to keep my wing a secret Clarion! Promise me?"_

_ Nodding, she started crying again and exclaimed through sobs, "It's all my fault!"_

_ Milori pushed himself up and wrapped his arms around her. "Clarion, it's alright. It wasn't your fault, but my own folly. Everything will be okay."_

_ Reaching behind him, she gently touched the middle of his back, where his destroyed wing was held in place with long linen bandages. "No Milori, it won't be okay. You will never fly again. And no matter what you say, it IS my fault. For I am queen, and I should have never permitted you to do anything as dangerous as crossing the border."_

_ "How can you say that!?" Tears welled in Milori's eyes. "I… I love you!"_

_ "And I love you. But what if others try to cross the border? Would you honestly be willing to let other fairies risk their wings by crossing? No. I will make it law throughout all of pixie hollow. No fairy shall ever again be allowed to cross the border."_

_ "And… What of us?"_

_ Tears rolling down her cheeks, Clarion leaned over and brushed one last lingering kiss over Milori's lips. "This is goodbye."_

Yelping, Milori sat up, unsure where he was. As the memories of what had happened the day before slowly came back to him, Milori stood to his feet, wobbling slightly. Once he was sure the Keeper was not around, he left the library and whistled for Avalanche. As soon as the great owl landed, he climbed onto his soft feathered back and took off into the night sky.

_Why did I have that dream?_ His thoughts ran around wildly. _I will never trust that messed up Minister of Spring… I know he planned that, I know he was up to something. But why did I dream of that today? I hope nothing bad is about to happen… But I have the itching suspicion that something very wrong is going on in Pixie Hollow._


	8. oops

**Yeah, yeah, I know. I said Tuesday, I'm sorry I have been checking no joke, EVERY DAY since Tuesday but the tech dudes DONT HAVE MY THINGY FIXED! :( Now they say it might not be don't until this Thursday, I'm sorry. I will post as soon as I get it back but until then I don't have the files. IM SORRY!**


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